(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display, which is one of the most common types of flat panel displays currently in use, includes two sheets of display panels with field generating electrodes, such as a pixel electrode and a common electrode, and a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween. The liquid crystal display generates electric fields in the liquid crystal layer by applying voltage to the field generating electrodes, and determines the direction of liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer by the generated electric field, thus controlling polarization of incident light so as to display images.
Vertically aligned (VA) mode liquid crystal displays have been developed, in which the liquid crystal molecules are aligned so that a long axis thereof is vertical with respect to the plane of the display panel in a state where no electric field is applied.
In the vertically aligned (VA) mode liquid crystal display, it is important to ensure a wide viewing angle, and for this purpose, a method of forming a cutout, such as a micro-slit, on the field generating electrode is used. Cutouts and protrusions in the field generating electrode determine a tilt direction of liquid crystal molecules, such that a viewing angle may be increased by appropriately disposing the cutouts and protrusions to disperse the tilt direction of the liquid crystal molecule in various directions.
However, in the case of a method of providing a plurality of branch electrodes by forming a micro-slit on a pixel electrode, an open ratio of the liquid crystal display is decreased.
In addition, when a plurality of domains are formed in the liquid crystal layer by varying the inclination directions of liquid crystal molecules, display quality of a domain interface may be deteriorated.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.